Chusetts



(No Model.)

S. B. & C. B. PRATT.

THREAD HOLDER FOR SPOOLS.

N0. 39'7,999. Patented Feb. 19, 1889.

UNTTE STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

SAMUEL BARKER PRATT AND CLARA BARKER PRATT, OF BOSTON, MASSA-Ol-IUSETTS.

THREAD-HOLDER FOR SPOOLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,999, dated February19, 1889.

I Application filed October 12, 1888. Serial No. 287,931. (No model.)

To all whom it 72mg CON/66PM.

Be it known that we, SAMUEL BARKER PRATT and CLARA BARKER PRATT, both ofBoston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a new and useful Attachment for Spools of Thread, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Spools of thread for domestic use are apt,

especially when lying in a basket or workl box, to become more or lessunwound, with the result that the thread from the different 5 spools isliable to become tangled, and much trouble and loss of thread and timeensue therefrom. Our device is intended to obviate I 5 this difficulty,to do away with any necessity for slitting or notching the spool, and toprovide an end of the thread always ready for use, but at the same timeto prevent the spool from becoming unwound any-farther. In theaccompanying drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicatelike parts, Figure 1 is an elevation of a spool of thread provided withour device. zontal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a similar section ofthe attachment removed. Fig. 4 is a plan of the main portion of theattachment laid flat, the elastic portion having been removed. Fig. 5 isa view of the elastic portion removed. Fig. (3 is a side viewof a modiofication.

A represents a flatstrip of thin pliable inaterialsuch as zylonite orsome thin metalbroader at one end or portion and narrower at theopposite end or portion. 5 a is a hole situated near the end of thebroad portion, of sufiicient size to admit the end of the narrowerportion.

1) is a perforation centrally located in the strip, of a sufficient sizeto allow the passage of 0 the thread.

0 is a hook or catch cut and formed up from the body of the strip.

A is a hook formed by bending the end of the smaller portion of thestrip back upon to expand sufficiently,

itself.

A A are guiding-lips, produced by forming up the opposite edges of thebroader portion of the strip at the points shown.

E represents an ordinary spool with the Fig. 2 is a horil i i 5o threade wound upon it in the usual manner. i

The strip A is laid around the loaded spool in the manner shown-that is,with its narrower end projecting through the hole a, and the end of thethread projecting through the perforation b. An elastic band, D, catchesover the hook c and the hooked end A, extending from one to the other,as shown, between the lips A. The object of this band is to force thestrip to contract as the thread is unwound from the spool. by pullingthe narrow end more and more through the perforation a in the broad end.

To remove a piece of thread, the spool is laid in thehand with the endof the thread extending between two upturned fingers thereof. The threadis then pulled by the other hand, and the spool will rotate while theattachment remains stationary, and the thread be drawn through theperforation Z) until a sufficient quantity is unwound. The spool maythen be thrown-into the work-bas ket without fear of more threadbecoming unwound from it.- In plaein g the spool in the hand preparatoryto unwinding thread there from, it should be so laid therein that as thethread is pulled the spool will rotate toward the palm of the hand. Theattachment will readily follow the thread from end to end of the spoolas it unwinds without any assistance.

It will be seen that in this attachment the strip is substantially flat,no groove or trough shape being necessary, as the elastic D is notobliged to extend entirely around the strip, the strip itself beingprovided with means for securing the opposite ends of the elastic bandon opposite sides of the outer free end of the strip.

The elastic band is prevented from coming in contact with the thread,thereby producing too great friction thereupon, by means of the positionof the hook c, which is sufficiently distant from the larger end toallow said strip and still allow the hooked end A to extend through theopen- 5 ing a, so that the portion of the strip between the opening aand the hook c is always i11- terposed between the elastic band and thethread.

The elastic band is preferably, but not nec- Too essaril5 made in theform 01 a figure 8, as shown in Fig. 5, in order that there may be twoloops in said hand, either of which may he caught over the hook c.

The modification in Fig. (1 shows the strip with the hooks c and A andperforation (L omitted, and the elastic hand cemented at its ends to anend of the strip and to a portion near the center of the strip, asshown,so that the free end of the strip underlaps, (thereby keeping theelastic from contact position by with the thread) and is held in meansof loops H.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The strip A, provided with the peri'm-a-

